I need help with my query. I've looked at Query Shark a fair amount, but I've gotten turned around and deviated from the pattern. If anyone has any input, it would be greatly appreciated.
-- Joey
Dear Ms. <>,
I'd like to tell you about the mystery novel I’ve just completed, HIDE YOUR FIRES (75,000 words):
Cal Bladner has a good scam going. Promising free land for veterans’ signatures, he’s making a fortune through bumped-up appraisals and kickbacks. But it’s all about to change when Alison Pitakpeivan seeks his help in tracking down her mixed-up twin.
The kidnappers have left threatening notes and photos of the sister, stripped, bound and gagged. If Bladner doesn’t help, the girl -- who he once left his wife for -- will die. If he does help, and delays his land “sale,” the scandal will come apart, and he’ll miss out on millions. Already a young County Attorney is putting the pieces together to bust Bladner. And the further Bladner pursues the missing twin, the more he sets himself up as the target of an elaborate revenge plot.
Bladner’s quest for the missing twin will pit him against paint-huffing taxidermists, sheepdog-raping perverts, and a mysterious outfit known as the Chicago Boys. He’s falling for Alison Pitakpeivan, despite her increasing mental illness. The kidnappers say the twin will not live long -- they’re mailing her hand for emphasis. Curiously, the cursive of the notes matches the handwriting of Bladner’s closest associate, and, strangely, the twin seems to, in some respects, control her captivity. The story threads its way through post World War II rural Texas, and explores the unusual racial situation of crooked whites working in close association with black men, while the region at large remains de-facto segregated.
My short fiction has been published or accepted for publication by Foliate Oak, Cantaraville, Houston Literary Review, Avatar Review, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and Citron Review, among others. As a title attorney, I have spent much time in rural courthouses, ever keeping an ear to local eccentricities.
I would love to send you work from the novel. Thank you for your time and consideration.
-- Joey
Dear Ms. <>,
I'd like to tell you about the mystery novel I’ve just completed, HIDE YOUR FIRES (75,000 words):
Cal Bladner has a good scam going. Promising free land for veterans’ signatures, he’s making a fortune through bumped-up appraisals and kickbacks. But it’s all about to change when Alison Pitakpeivan seeks his help in tracking down her mixed-up twin.
The kidnappers have left threatening notes and photos of the sister, stripped, bound and gagged. If Bladner doesn’t help, the girl -- who he once left his wife for -- will die. If he does help, and delays his land “sale,” the scandal will come apart, and he’ll miss out on millions. Already a young County Attorney is putting the pieces together to bust Bladner. And the further Bladner pursues the missing twin, the more he sets himself up as the target of an elaborate revenge plot.
Bladner’s quest for the missing twin will pit him against paint-huffing taxidermists, sheepdog-raping perverts, and a mysterious outfit known as the Chicago Boys. He’s falling for Alison Pitakpeivan, despite her increasing mental illness. The kidnappers say the twin will not live long -- they’re mailing her hand for emphasis. Curiously, the cursive of the notes matches the handwriting of Bladner’s closest associate, and, strangely, the twin seems to, in some respects, control her captivity. The story threads its way through post World War II rural Texas, and explores the unusual racial situation of crooked whites working in close association with black men, while the region at large remains de-facto segregated.
My short fiction has been published or accepted for publication by Foliate Oak, Cantaraville, Houston Literary Review, Avatar Review, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and Citron Review, among others. As a title attorney, I have spent much time in rural courthouses, ever keeping an ear to local eccentricities.
I would love to send you work from the novel. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Joseph Koehl
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